A new program inside a Marion County Jail facility aims to connect offenders with job training and employment readiness services before they even step foot out from behind bars.
The Linking to Employment Activities Pre-release (LEAP) program, which is funded by a $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, started in early March with a class of 10 offenders at Marion County Jail II.
The program
“Many of the guys, some of them have never had a job before, for some of them it’s been awhile. Some have worked under the table, so we’re trying to get them ready to integrate back into society,” said Shonna Majors, director of employment and transition services at PACE (Public Advocates in Community Re-Entry), one of the community organizations involved in the program.
The program includes six days of classroom-style meetings over a two-week period, where cohorts of participants touch on a multitude of topics.
“We do resume building, how to apply for jobs online and on paper, how not to give too much information on the application to get barred right away, how to interview. We talk about job search techniques, how to network with other people, how to navigate job fairs,” Majors said. The class also delves into financial literacy, healthy lifestyles, conflict management and workplace culture, things Majors said many people take for granted and consider common knowledge.
“We also have a training component, where we bring in an OSHA trainer to teach general OSHA safety, which will get them a certification. Once they’re released, they will get the rest of the forklift training to go with that.”
Beyond the two weeks of classes, participants have regular one-on-one follow-up meetings with case managers, and they continue their training post-release.
“Once these guys get released from here, they will come over to PACE and resume their post-release program,” Majors said. “These guys will have a jumpstart on what everybody else is getting once they come to PACE. It’s going to be streamlined.”
The plan
April Angermeier, with Community Solutions — an organization that staffs the Marion County Re-entry Coalition and was also involved in securing the grant and implementing the LEAP program — said one goal of the program is to reduce recidivism in Marion County, which has already been steadily declining over the past five or so years. But the requirements of the grant specify several other indicators like job placement, enrollment in the program, the number of participants receiving training and certifications and retention in the program post-release.
Angermeier said what she likes about the program is the focus on the transition period, because the first six to 12 months of an ex-offender’s time back with the community can have a huge impact on the path they take.
“A lot of times people get out, they don’t have connections to support services, and they don’t have ways to deal with the barriers they’re facing,” she said. “If they don’t have a stable job and stable housing, the likelihood they’re going to be able to stay successful in the community is pretty low.”
Brian Van Bokkelen, with EmployIndy — the organization that applied for the grant and organized the coalition working on the program, which also manages WorkOne Indy — echoed Angermeier’s views on the importance of an offender’s transition from inside to outside. He said creating the connection between offenders and jobs programs can have a major impact.
“A lot of people exiting the jail, they don’t have that touchpoint, so we get them connected before they leave,” he said. “Rather than walking out and saying, ‘What do I do now?’ They already have that plan established, so they just keep following their plan.”
The process
Sara Phillips, with EmployIndy, said the process involved in preparing the LEAP program to launch was extensive. Gathering support and involvement from community partners — including PACE, Community Solutions and MCRC, the Marion County Jail and Marion County Community Corrections — was just the beginning.
After preparing and submitting the grant proposal then waiting for the Department of Labor’s decision (which came down in June 2015), Phillips and members of MCRC and PACE had months of weekly meetings to prepare every aspect of the program, even down to the room the classes would be held in. There were also monthly update meetings with the entire coalition.
Nine months later, the first run of the program, overall, was a success.
The second cohort will start its two weeks of classes on April 4, and jail staff are currently working with LEAP program leaders to identify eligible inmates for the program. Angermeier said finding participants comes with a major challenge: the grant specifies that all program participants be within 180 days of release.
“Over 90 percent of the people in the jail are pre-trial and pre-sentence, so that presents a challenge in us finding people who are eligible for the program,” Angermeier said.
Majors said the LEAP program was initially going to involved four weeks of classroom meetings, but it was shortened to better work with offenders’ releases. In the first cohort of 10, six of the participants were released before completing the two weeks of classes. But Majors said those six participants haven’t been lost entirely.
“They’re now coming over to PACE to get the rest of their training,” she said.
The goal is to reach 100 program participants by June 2017.
The participants
Tyrone Anderson said prior to going to jail, he never had any formal employment, only under-the-table work, so a lot of the class content was new to him.
“I’ve learned how to conduct myself when I get a job, the proper way to fill out applications … I didn’t have any idea at first, but it’s taught me. I’m thankful for this program,” he said. “Whatever job comes my way, I’m ready now. First, I was like, low self-esteem, I probably won’t be able to do it, but this program put me right where I want to be for me to move forward in my life.”
Anderson said he is interested in a job in landscaping when he gets out of jail.
Johnny Burger, another participant in the first cohort, said he worked in landscaping prior to landing behind bars, and he hopes to get back into that. He said the LEAP program has also inspired him to pursue his forklift certification with PACE.
“I advise anybody in here to take this class and go to PACE on the outside, because they’ve got a lot to offer,” Burger said.
Brian Jett said he’s been advising people about the program, too.
“I’ve told people about it, trying to get people signed up for the next class,” Jett said. He hopes to pursue an apprenticeship at Ivy Tech after his release to learn how to operate a lathe.
